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10 injured in Russian supermarket bombing

Vehicles of emergency services parked near the supermarket after an explosion

SAINT PETERSBURG: A
homemade bomb blast at a supermarket in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg injured 10 people Wednesday, officials said, sparking a
probe into attempted murder.

"According to preliminary information, an explosion of
an unidentified object occurred in a store," a spokeswoman for Russia's Investigative
Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, said in a statement.

The blast was caused by a "homemade explosive device
with the power equivalent to 200 grammes of TNT filled with lethal
fragments," she said.

"The investigation is looking at all possible causes of
what happened," she said, adding that a probe for attempted murder had
been launched.

The incident comes several months after Russia's second city
was rocked with a metro bombing in April which killed 16 people and amid
concern that hundreds of Russian citizens who travelled to fight alongside
jihadists groups abroad could pose a mounting security challenge back home.

"Ten people have been hospitalised, their lives are not
in danger," the head of the Saint Petersburg investigative unit Alexander
Klaus told Russian news agencies.

An emergencies ministry representative told AFP that one of
the injured was in serious condition.

An AFP correspondent at the scene observed first responders
and police as well as a car belonging the Federal Security Service (FSB), which
investigates acts of terror.

The building containing the supermarket did not appear to
have sustained serious damage.

Police have cordoned off the area while the city's
transportation authorities briefly rerouted public transport in the
neighbourhood.

Passerby Galina Gustova, 58, observed the scene with horror.

"How terrible! And this happens as people are shopping
ahead of the holidays," she said. "It's a good thing nobody died."

The blast came ahead of New Year's celebrations as well as
Russian Orthodox Christmas, which falls on January 7.

"I often buy groceries here, I wanted to go in but
everything is blocked," said another local, 20-year-old Viktoria Smirnova.

"I'm a doctor, I heard on the news that there was an
explosion. I live nearby and thought I could be useful," another
bystander, 50-year-old Marina Bulanova, told AFP.

Sources told Russian agencies that the explosive device had
been placed in a storage locker.

"About 6:30pm there was the sound of a blast. As a
result, several people have been injured," the Saint Petersburg police
said.

"There is no fire. All shoppers have been
evacuated," an emergencies ministry representative told Interfax.

Witness Artur Yeritsyan told TASS news agency that he heard
the blast and saw smoke in the shop, but that there were not a lot of customers
at the time, with some victims being taken away by ambulances.

Saint Petersburg, which is set to host World Cup matches next
year, is still reeling from the deadly metro bombing in April that killed 16
and wounded dozens.

That bombing was claimed by a group linked to Al-Qaeda which said
it was a message to countries engaged in war with Muslims.

In July, the FSB said it had detained seven people who were preparing
"acts of terror" in Saint Petersburg, particularly its railway system
and major public gathering places.

FSB director Alexandra Bortnikov said earlier in December that around 4,500
Russian citizens had travelled abroad to participate in "terrorist"
groups.

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